Dedicated to my dear wife, who is still - recognisably and remarkably - the same person I have known and loved for nineteen years.

Tuesday, 1 July 2014

Comments on Cameron's latest speech about dementia

As promised, some thoughts about the various points he made:

'The prime minister was
speaking to an audience of 300 experts who have pledged to find a cure by 2025.'

Here again we find the all too common confusion. Have the experts really pledged to find a cure for dementia (i.e. all forms of dementia) by 2015? This seems very unlikely since, as we have mentioned several times on the blog, dementia can be caused by a wide range of different diseases and conditions.

'He said there was a need to
develop more drugs and get them to patients more quickly. For that to happen,
international collaboration and more money for dementia research was needed, he
said.'

It's impossible to argue, though one has to say that unless the 'new drugs' are a lot more effective than current ones they won't get us close to any 'cures'.

''He added: "Something like £50m a year is being spent on dementia research, rather than the £590m spent on cancer. It is important to see dementia as a disease and one that we need to better understand so that we can tackle it." '

Again, dementia is called a disease - you'd think someone would tell him, wouldn't you? But there's no denying that much more money needs to be spent on research. And there needs to be a broader approach so that it's possible for researchers to obtain funding for work on neglected approaches rather than chipping away at the same coal-face as every other researcher.

' "So much of this is
about making sure hospitals and care homes treat people with dementia better
and, absolutely crucially, that we build dementia-friendly communities where
all of us try and understand better what it's like to live with dementia,"
he said.'

Amen to this. But, although there is a long, long way to go, my experience is that almost wherever you go there's a growing number of people who have some understanding of dementia.

About this blog

My wife has dementia. She first attended a memory clinic in 2000, aged 52, and suffered a marked decline in the autumn of 2011. Since then there have been some improvements, despite the fact that she has now (after 12 years investigation) been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.

We try to follow the advice of our Guru: 'Live a Good Life'. It's not easy but there doesn't seem to be any better advice around.

I found myself saying to a friend that I would find my wife's condition very interesting if I wasn't so involved. I've realised now that I do find it, and the issues it raises, interesting. And that there's nothing wrong with that. It's one of the things that keeps me going. Not that I have any choice.

I think more and more that I'm a very rational person (though I'm not claiming that I always behave rationally). I have to try and make sense of things. In my current situation, this is quite a challenge. We all need challenges, they say.

I'm hoping this blog might help me, and maybe others, in some way. If I'm wrong, it won't last very long.